Month: January 2019

If there's anyone in American history worthy of celebrating, it's the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. And so, come next Monday, we'll celebrate him by going shopping on a day where we'd usually go to work or school. After all, it's too cold and wet for barbeque. Not really the best way to honor … Continue reading Movies for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Harold Lloyd climbs into the public domain, Pickett and Prueher show very bad videos, and Germany frightens us in both sound and silence. Also Satyajit Ray, Christopher Guest, Ida Lupino, and a whole lot of great movies on Bay Area movie screens this week. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A Safety Last, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 18 – 24

I can't easily pigeonhole IndieFest amongst Bay Area film festivals. It's not about a genre, such as Noir City or DocFest. It's not aimed at certain people, such as Frameline or CAAMFest. Nor is it a fancy red-carpet affair like SFFilm or Mill Valley. Instead, it focuses on low-budget, unusual, often weird films that will probably … Continue reading IndieFest coming soon

Real and fake Laurel and Hardy, dogs and cats of the deadly kind, a dying bureaucrat, a desperate cyclist, a hitchhiker with a twitchy trigger finger, musical POWs, and a boy named Apu. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A The Apu Trilogy, Stanford, Friday through Sunday The Stanford is starting a Satyajit … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 11 – 17

B+ Crime thriller Written by Fred Berger, Phil Hay, & Matt Manfredi Directed by Karyn Kusama Crime and grime penetrate Los Angeles in this very dark noir. The deeply dense plot works mostly as a structure for presenting atmosphere and character. But then, in the last few minutes, that plot suddenly becomes clear and everything … Continue reading Destroyer: Nicole Kidman as one tough dame

B- Biopic Written by Jeff Pope Directed by Jon S. Baird This is absolutely the least funny Laurel and Hardy movie I have ever seen. Of course, it's not a real Laurel and Hardy movie. It's certainly not a comedy, although it has many laughs. Stan & Ollie is a mostly sad story about the … Continue reading Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried